The Curse
$35.99
Pros
- Some proven ingredients
- Decent caffeine dose
Cons
- Most ingredients underdosed
- Low dosed pre-workout only 5-gram per serving
- Contains proprietary blends
Welcome to The Curse pre-workout review. Ultimate in-depth analysis of all the key ingredients, what they do, and how much is included in the product. We aim to give you all the information you need to decide whether this JNX Sports pre-workout is for you.
The Curse is a pre-workout supplement from the company JNX Sports. The Curse pre-workout is designed to use before workouts to increase energy, muscle pumps, and performance. The Curse contains 7 ingredients in the form of proprietary blends with 5-gram serving size. Even though the Curse contains proven ingredients such as Beta-Alanine, Creatine and L-Citrulline they are underdosed, however the formula contains a decent caffeine dose of 155mg per serving.
No PR, no marketing, no bullshit, just the cold hard facts, which will allow you to determine whether it’s worth parting with your hard-earned cash for The Curse.
If you’ve made it this far, our guess is that you’re looking to take your training to the next level but you’re not quite sure which pre-workout brands can be trusted and you really don’t have the time to waste hours on internet research.
Luckily for you, we do, and this is what we’ve come up with about The Curse pre-workout.
Proprietary blend?
OUCH! This the curse pre-workout review is not off to a great start, unfortunately!!
As soon as you turn the pot around to take a look at the nutritional information panel on this product, your eyes are drawn to the words blend and matrix, or they are at least if you’re anything like us!
You could be forgiven for thinking that this means yet another supplement manufacturer is trying to deceive you about exactly how much of all those active ingredients are really in their product.
Ingredients in The Curse pre-workout
| Serving size: 1 Scoop (5g) | Amount Per Serving | %Daily Value |
| Energizing Muscle Fuel Blend | 3,000mg | † |
| Beta-Alanine, Creatine Monohydrate, Citric Acid | ||
| Amplifier Blend | 900mg | † |
| L-Citrulline, L-Arginine Alpha-Ketoglutarate (AKG) | ||
| Mind Control Matrix | 157mg | † |
| Caffeine Anhydrous 155mg, Olive Leaf Extract (40% Oleuropein) | ||
The Fuel blend:
The Curse pre-workout fuel blend is made up of a combination of beta alanine and creatine. THE TWO most impressive nutritional supplements on the market and absolute cornerstones of the pre-workout world.
Beta-alanine has some pretty impressive fatigue-fighting properties thanks to its role in producing carnosine. Carnosine helps buffer the build-up of lactic acid in your muscles, which is the primary cause of fatigue. This essentially means your body can work harder for longer using the anaerobic energy system. Particularly helpful for activity lasting between 1 and 4 minutes, such as repeat sprints.
Creatine supplementation can have drastic effects on your body’s ability to perform resistance-based work in the gym. Higher sets and reps mean increased physiological adaptations and improvements in both strength and lean muscle mass.
Unfortunately for this Cobra Labs pre-workout, neither of these two magical amino acids are included in doses even close to their optimums. Beta-alanine has been proven to be most effective with a daily dose of 4-6g whilst creatine requires 5g per day after an initial loading phase of 20g per day for 7 days.[1][2]
1600 mg and 1000 mg, respectively, just will not cut it, I’m afraid.
The Amplifier blend:
Containing 700 mg of l-citrulline and 300 mg of l-arginine, the main focus of the Amplifier blend within The Curse pre-workout is almost certainly pumped.
Arginine has been shown to increase the production of nitric oxide, which causes the body’s blood vessels to expand, allowing more blood and, therefore, oxygen to be pumped to working muscles. This also makes it particularly useful in fighting exercise-induced fatigue!
Supplementation with citrulline has been shown to increase arginine production within the body, therefore, amplifying the above physiological effects.
However, it has been demonstrated that oral supplementation with arginine is ineffective as the vast majority is broken down in the liver before it can take effect.[3] Whilst citrulline is much more effective as a precursor to arginine; it takes a considerable amount more than 700 mg to impact.
In fact, scientific research suggests that l-citrulline should be dosed at 3-6g per day for optimum effect.[4]
The amplifier blend certainly shows promise, but as is often the case with pre-workout supplements, The Curse pre-workout lets itself down concerning dosage.
The Control matrix:
The Curse pre-workout Control matrix includes a 155 mg dose of caffeine. Whilst this is a little lower than our preferred 250 mg, the inclusion of caffeine is a huge positive.
A staple of most stimulant-based pre-workout products, caffeine has well-established ergogenic benefits, including improved mental focus, reduced fatigue perception, and increased fat-burning potential. Sounds pretty bloody good to us.
Whilst we’d obviously like a slightly higher dose, 155 mg should still have the desired effects, particularly if you’re new to the pre-workout game and don’t drink coffee by the truckload.
This the curse pre-workout review is basically telling you that it’s a below-average product.
Pros and cons of The Curse by Cobra Labs pre-workout
| Pros | Cons |
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Benefits of Cobra Labs pre-workout
Despite our disappointment regarding the underdosing of so many key and potentially powerful ingredients, some positives are to be taken at this stage of The Curse pre-workout review.
It comes in a multitude of different flavors, so even the fussiest of consumers should be able to find a taste to their liking!
Pricing
At $35.99 per pot on the bodybuilding.com website, The Curse pre-workout comes in at $0.70 per serving, which makes it very reasonably priced.
Summary
Whilst it is disappointing that this Cobra Labs-inspired pre-workout fails to deliver any of its key ingredients at scientifically optimum doses, there aren’t many pre-workout products out there which do. We certainly shouldn’t overlook that it includes some of the biggest players in the nutritional supplement world.
However, the bottom line is that if you just take this product and nothing else in support of your workout routine, the gains will be minimal. There simply isn’t enough of the ingredients that are supposed to push you to the next level, which is disappointing.
So near, yet so far for The Curse pre-workout, I’m afraid…!
FAQ
The Curse pre-workout vs. C4
The Curse pre-workout compares almost identically to the Cellucor’s C4 original pre-workout product. Both contain 1.6g of beta-alanine and 1g of creatine.
C4 makes use of creatine nitrate rather than the more common and well-researched creatine monohydrate. As a result, the arginine content of C4 is a little higher, but as we discussed above, the inclusion of this amino acid is largely irrelevant due to its breakdown in the liver.
Caffeine dosage per serving is also almost identical.
At $29.99 per pot on the official Cellucor website, C4 comes in at just under $1 per serving, which makes it considerably more expensive than its Cobra Labs counterpart.
Both come in a wide variety of flavors, so they should satisfy even the fussiest of consumers. With nothing much to separate these two products, the fact that The Curse pre-workout is cheaper and formulated using the more established and trusted creatine monohydrate means that it just comes out on top!
The Curse pre-workout caffeine content
The Curse pre-workout supplement has a caffeine content of 155 mg per serving. If you haven’t taken a stimulant-based product before or have a particularly low tolerance to caffeine, then you will definitely feel the effects of this dose.
Because caffeine is safely consumed up to 400 mg per day, it is unlikely that the caffeine content of The Curse is going to lead to any severe side effects. However, if you are a regular consumer of coffee or you are experienced when it comes to taking stimulant-based pre-workouts, then this dosage may not be enough for you!
This concludes our the curse pre-workout review. Please leave your own review in the comments below!
Resources
[1] Stellingwerff T, Anwander H, Egger A, Buehler T, Kreis R, Decombaz J, et al. Effect of two beta-alanine dosing protocols on muscle carnosine synthesis and washout. Amino Acids. 2012;42(6):2461–72. doi: 10.1007/s00726-011-1054-4 and Harris RC, Jones GA, Kim HJ, Kim CK, Price KA, Wise JA. Changes in muscle carnosine of subjects with 4 weeks of supplementation with a controlled relase formulation of beta-alanine (CarnoSyn), and for 6 weeks post (Abstract) FASEB J. 2009;23:599.4.
[2] Creatine supplementation with specific view to exercise/sports performance: an update- journal of international sports science and nutrition.
[3]https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/first-pass-effect
[4]Bailey, S. J., Blackwell, J. R., Lord, T., Vanhatalo, A., Winyard, P. G., & Jones, A. M. (2015). L-citrulline supplementation improves O2 uptake kinetics and high-intensity exercise performance in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology, 119(4), 385-395.
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